Google Announces Stricter Rules For YouTube Monetization

Google has announced that it will be making some changes to its YouTube monetization policy, and these changes will definitely be affecting smaller creators in Nigeria and elsewhere.

The tech giant had already announced in December that it had recognized the need to embrace a new approach to monetization on the tube, following the various difficulties they had faced through 2017. With this new policy, Google intends to tighten its vetting process, and also make creators earn the rights to run ads and make money off YouTube as usual, but under stricter rules.

Previously, channels only had to cross the mark of 10,000 views to be eligible for the YouTube Partnership program; however, with these new rules, channels will be required to have 1000 subscribers and about 4000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months before they can be eligible to monetize their channel. You can read more about the new policy here.

In a statement posted to the Google blog, the tech giant offered some sort of explanation as to why they are making these changes:

“The challenges we faced in 2017 have helped us make tough but necessary changes in 2018. These changes will help us better fulfill the promise YouTube holds for advertisers: the chance to reach over 1.5 billion people around the world who are truly engaged with content they love. We value the partnership and patience of all our advertisers to date and look forward to strengthening those ties throughout 2018.”

What this new policy means is that channels that have been struggling to up their number of subscribers really need to work twice as hard to retain the rights to monetize their channels and keep their source of income.

Here’s a few things you can do to hopefully survive Google’s new monetization policy on YouTube :

Redefine your YouTube content strategy – Now more than ever, YouTube creators who have been struggling with their numbers need to find more exciting and engaging ways to attract users to subscribe to their channels. Redefining your content to suit trends will be a great way to start.

Use your social media channels! – So you have been a creator who got a few views and stopped sharing to social media, now is the time to revitalize your social! Key into existing online communities to drive new subscribers to your page. You might want to explore joining relevant Facebook groups and Google+ groups.

Engage with your existing fans – Talk to your fans about the new policy and get them to tell their friends about your channel. It may sound basic to you, but trust me, the best way to get more subscribers is to get existing ones to convert their friends and family. As long as you keep churning out good content, your subscriber base will grow.

Use calls to action within your videos – This is one of the oldest tricks in the manual, but it still works. You can add calls to action within your video to get people to take actions on your content and increase your watch time and engagement. A good tip is to start your videos with an exciting sequence, drawing your fans in, and then asking them to like, subscribe, and share to see more.

Team up with other YouTube creators – This is the time for you to collaborate! Look out for channels with a higher number of subscribers than yours and try to see how you can team up with them.

Subscribe to other channels and be active – Think of YouTube as a community of video addicts. Yes, you want people to subscribe to your own channel, but how else do you convince someone to check you out if you do not check others out? Drop comments on other channels and also try to engage with commenters there. Avoid spamming their pages with links though!

Don’t let the new policy get you down creators, it’s only a new challenge for 2018, not a setback!